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Mason City Globe-Gazette (Newspaper) - May 12, 1943, Mason City, Iowa
6CPARTUCNT Of KlSIOHy AND ARCHIVCS NORTH IOWAS DAILY PAPER EDITED FOR THE HOME CCS MOINCS THE NEWSPAPEK THAT MAKES ALL NORTH IOWANS NEIGHBORS VOL XUX ASSOCIATED PRtSS AND UNITED PRESS FULJ FIVE CENTS A MASON CITY IOWA WEDNESDAY MAY 12 1943 THIS PAPEK CONSISTS OP TWO SECTIONS HOME EDITION liillif NO 184 CHURCHILL BRINGS INDIA EXPERTS Von Arnim Caught by British as Cap Bon Resistance Ends 9 MILE CIRCLE AT ENFIDAVILLE LAST HOLDOUT Tens Thousands of Prisoners Taken Tanks Split Up Peninsula BULLETIN ALLIED HEADQUAR TERS IN NORTH AF RICA Col Gen Jurgen von Arnim axis commander in Tunisia was captured by the British it was announced Wednesday i BULLETIN ALL IE D HEADQUARTERS IX NOKTH AFRICA rough circle nine miles in di ameter in the taunt Tunisian hills north of Enfidaville was all that was left to the axis in north Africa Wednesday night and it was crumbling rapidly under allied assault from all sides By EDWARD KENNEDY ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NORTH AFRICA German resistance has melted away on Cap Bon the Britisharmor after mak ing a complete circuit of thepe ninsula to isVstalibing in land and rounding rup tens of thousands of freely surrendering enemy troops front line dis patches said Wednesday Only one center of axis fighting spirit existed in all North Africa Wednesday and that was a 15 mite wide circular area southwest of the peninsula where allied armor troops and planes were at tacking from all sides So thoroughly had the patrols of U Gen K A X Anderson infiltrated into Cap Bon penin sula that allied air bombing of the bombriddled area was called off late Tuesday because of the danger of hitting friendly troops The Germans and Italians southwest of the peninsula were hemmed in a circular area only about 15 miles across and this was being given severe punishment by the air forces as well as by the troops but the communique saic the lack of suitabletargets indi cated the approaching end of the air battle over Tunisia While many Germans were stil at large on Cap Bons inland mountains they were mostly serv ice personnel not mucli interestcc in fighting The total of prisoners was ex pected to pass the 100000 mark The completed count in the ares oE the second U S army corp showed the Americans FrencI Free corps and Moroccan Gou miers had taken 37998 prisoners of whom 33498 were Germans The Italian communique said Gen Giovanni Messe com mander of the first Italian army in Cap Bon who is reported lo hare been left as commander of all axis force in Tunisia as well bad rejected a demand for surrender by Sir Ber nard Freyberg New Zealand The Germans and Italians wen offering considerable resistance however in the mountains west of Bou Ficha and north of Enfida ville They had been wedged off fvom Cap Bon by British armor driving south from Tunis which had reached Bou Ficha on the coastal road 11 miles southwest of Ham mamet on the peninsula and 15 miles north of Enfidaville This circle was being hammered on the north as well by British troops at Ste Marie du Zit 12 miles northwest of Bou Ficha on the west by pran Algiers and Moroccan divisions of Gen Henri Girauds French north African army in the region east of Za ghouan and on the south by a British eighth army and French force north of Enfidaville The British first army column in reaching Bou Ficha from the north was within five miles of a junction along the coast with the Hitlers Invincibles Drive Selves Unescorted to Rear inquire Way to Prison Pens By DANIEL DE LUCE MEDJEZELBAB Tunisia strangest procession moved In the predawn darkness Wednesday for 90 miles from the tip of Cap Bon peninsula to the bombscarred hamlet ot Medjcz ElBab 34 miles west of captured Tunis The picture Adolph Hitlers invincibles were driving them selves unescorted to allied prison pens German and Italian soldiers crowded into every kind of ve hicle in their armies except tanks streamed in a dustchoked file almost bumper to bumper through the battle zone in which the North African campaign uas fought for six mouths and concluded with a sixday allied attack W Mile after mile the beatenaxis survivors drove without any sort of British guard along a route where military police were 10 miles or more apart Like uncertain tourists the surrendered enemy kept inquiring the correct way to their ultimate destination and at every hail from curious allied service troops far behind the erstwhile front the axis vehicles came to a full halt French nativeborn Italians and Arabs stared open mouth at this parade which seemed endless and continued all night The procession MVUUK through Tunis itself alone streets where every house proudly flew the tricolor Some axis prisoners played accordions and mandolins but most ly these truckloads of defeated men were grimly wearily silent There was not a single report of any prisoners trying to escape into the countryside although it would have been easy All the enemy cars converging here fly the white flag and troops aboard hold out white handkerchiefs and undershirts to make sure the handful of British recognize their intentions German colonels drive up in their own Volkswagens or Ion ago captured American jeeps German halftracks and trucks are crammed with junior officers and men There is not a single escorting guard in sight The Germans forage the fields anvaiie some of their damaged vehiclesin hopes that oneor two may be repaired quickly and save them from hiking perhaps 61 miles They sabotaged acon siderable number of cars before they were trapped and now they obviously regret their xealoosness for the fatherland These German troops going towards military prisons have almost a skylark attitude Many men with many war decorations are among them The iron cross for Russian front service and the pour le incritc are the easiest to spot because they arc so common They carry pet dogs and accordions and have pockets bulging with cigars cigarets biscuits and candy Hitler fed them well dressed them well and inspired them with what they thought almost a holy mission But they did not fight today They quit Rommels Africa corps and Von Arnims elite divisions from Europe didnt fight to the hitter heroic end When you see nearly 30000 Germans throw up their hands at a glimpse of a few ar mored cars as though they had guns and acres of ammunitiondumps you know the Germans morale can and will be cracked No ignomimy thePoles suffered in 1339 or the French in 1940 surpasses the spectacle of ablebodied veteran German soldiers driving hundreds of German vehicles to captivity And not a Britisher visible around for miles British eighth army from the south coming up Bay War Savings Bonds and Stamps from GlobeGazette carrier boy MERCURY DROP IS PREDICTED Freezing Is Forecast for North Part of Iowa DES MOINES weather bureau Wednesday forecast frost for all of Iowa Wednesday night The forecast was for unseason ably cold with heavy frost and temperatures below freezing in the northern part of the slate Near freezing temperatures with light frost was forecast for the south portion A trace of snow fell in the northwest corner of Iowa Tuesday night as the mercury dipped lo 31 at Inwood and Mason City after hitting a top of 77 earlier in the day at Alia and Onnwa FAVORlRAt PACT LIMITS House Tentatively Sets Program at 2 Years WASHINGTON house voted 196 to 153 Wednesday in favor of limiting extension of the administrations reciprocal trade powers to two years instead of three However the action is subject to n roll call later Representative Doughton D N Car shouted in debate that adoption of the amendment would be the first step toward abandonment ot the reciprocal trade policy a statement which was challenged by Representative Wadsworth R N The New Yorker totd the house that the world and this na tions allies would realize that the action did not mean repudia tion of the reciprocal trade pro gram and that it would continue the pact program for the dura tion the war ALLIED BOMBERS ATTACK CATANIA Blow Up Ammunition Dump Set Tanker Afire CAIRO heavy bombers escorted by RAF fight ers made a highly successful at tack Tuesday on the harbor of Catania Sicily blowing up an am munition ship setting a tanker afire and scoring hits on other shipping a middle cast air com munique announced Wednesday The raid was made by 50 libera tors which dropped 250000 pounds of bombs It was disclosed in Malta that the RAF fighter escort was from that British base Damage also was done to docks and harbor installations the bul letin said One mole where three ships were tied up was reported demolished One allied plane wis listed as missing in the operations Meanwhile the axiscontrolled Vichy radio broadcast a Rome re port Tuesday that nt least 200 were killed and 300 injured ser iously in day and night raids Sun day on Palermo north shore Si cilian port PATROLS FIGHT IN JUNGLE NEAR SALAMAUABASE Renewal of Important Land Fighting for Jap Point Indicated ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN AUSTRALIA U n g 1 c trails now nrc nstir with clashes of Japanese and allied patrols below Salamaua New Guinea a possible prelude to renewal of the land fighting which subsided in Janu ary after the allies conquered Buna Salainaua on a one mile isth mus extending into the Huon gulf is the first Japanese base of importance 011 the New Gui nea northeast coast above Buna 150 miles distant To the south of the own is a good air drome only starting point for the amazing air ferry serv ice over the mountains to Xeiv Guineas gold fields Wednesdays communique from headquarters of General Douglas MacArthur reported intensifiec clashes are occurring between small advanced ground elements in the Greens hill area of Mubo saying that Tuesday an Australian detachment surroundedfor a lime but broke through the Japa nese ring An allied threat to Salamaua ha been growing since the Japanesi were defeated decisively at Wau 35 miles southwest on Feb 1 and two days later started a re treat toward Mubo April 27 was disclosed that allied troops mostly Australians who went over the jungle track from Wau were looking down from the ridgetops upon Mubo and its airfield Then on May 17 it was announced the allies had seized the village of Bobdubi only five miles south west of Salamaua threatening to cut the enemys suppjv line lo Mubo Japans precarious position around Mubo has been made worse over a period of more than a month by lowflying al lied attack planes which have made as many as 4 passes in one day to rake enemy positions machinegnn and cannon fire Allied air power also has weakened Japans grip on Sala maua itself by pouncing upon ship convoys bringing men and supplies Wednesdays communique re ported that flying fortresses roaring over the volcano land ot north New Britain had started huge fires with their bombs on Vunakanaua airdrome at Rabaul MEET Roosevelt and Prime Minister Chuicliill arc shown here as they held a liistorit conference in Casablanca US Now Has Plants Tools to Beat Axis WPB Orders CutBack in New Construction WASHINGTON the nation now has the plants and tools needed to build production to beat the warproductipjjboard Wednesdays ordered a ing war construction and machine tool output An estimated SJ080009000 worth of approved government financed plant projects and machine tool contracts will be reviewed by the WPB and in everycase where existing plants or machines can do the job the contracts are to be can celed and plant construction stopped Signaling the finnl breaking ot the machine WPB said q makers would tool bottleneck number of tool go out of that Smaller fires in the dispersal areas indicated burning planes Tuesday the Japanese in their third straight day of small scale raiding sent nine bombers against alliedheld Meraiike on the south coast of Dutch New Guinea The communique admitted some dam age and casualties business and into direct produc tion of munitions While saying that the conver sion job within the war program is on a scale not unlike the con version that accompanied indus trys original changeover from civilian to military production and that there would be tempor ary shutdowns and resultant officials in sisted that any slack will be ob sorbcd speedily by the up swinging pace of actual annn ment production With the exception of cer tain special programs some special machinery and further expansion of raw materials production the United States at least has the machine tools and the capital equipment it Hickenloopers Mother Reported Critically 111 DES MOINES if Gov B B Hickerrlooper said he was going to Bedford Wednesday afternoon to see his mother Mrs Martin Hickenlooper who is critically ill The governor said she was very low She is in a nursing home Reds Think Parley Presages 2nd Front MOSCOW in after antxmiKe ment of British Prime Minister Chunhills trip to Washington Wednesday they interpreted it in only one presag inr a acemd frvat BRITISH TROOPS GO TO DOMINICA Axis Reports Say U S Moving on Martinique By UNITED PRESS British West Indian troops were being sent to Dominica Wednes day as unconfirmed axis reports said United States naval forces were moving against the French islands of Martinique and Guade loupe which lie on either side of Dominica At about the same time that the British radio announced a detachment of Barbados troops had embarked for Dominica in connection with the Martinique sitxiation the German Trans ocean news agency Tuesday night broadcast a report that the Amer icans were about to attack the French possessions Official quarters in both Wash ington and London did not com ment on the reports A reliable source in San Juan Puerto Rico told the United Press that the axis report was pure baloney plants and they free for direc war production machinery and equipment which is needed will equal urgency All in all they make U pos siblc to continue the rising rati of overall war production which must be continued it the year program is to be met WPB spokesmen said that th must programs would not b affected These include cerlai expansions inrawmaterials pro ducfeon the aircVaft progVam and certain chemical programs in cluding aviation gasoline and syn thetic rubber NEW DRIVES IN ORIENT LIKELY PARLEY TOPICS Churchill F R Plan Series of Intense Meetings in Washington WASHINGTON UR P r i m e l i n i s t c r Winston Churchill irought with him lo Washington lis top military naval and air ex icrts from India leading lo strong iclief that the prime ministers lonferences with President ftoose will include plans for new ffcnsivcs in the far east Membership of ihe Churchill jarly was disclosed by the white LOLISC Wednesday With the prime minister were Field Marshal Sir Archibald P Wavcll commander in chief of British forces in India and for mer commander of their army in the middle east AdmiMl Sir James Somcrville commander in chief of the eastern fleet and Air Marshal Sir Richard Peirsc commanding British air officer in India Other members of Churchills oarty included Gen Sir Alan Brooke chief of the imperial gen eral staff Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound first sea lord Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal chief of the British air staff Also Lord Leathers minister war transportation Lord Cher well the prime ministers statisti cal officer Lt Gen Sir Hastings L Ismay chief staff officer to the minister of defense and Brig E I C Jacob assistant secretary military of the British war cab inet needs to help produce to defeat Ihe axis Ihe HTB declared For the first time in its his tory the nation now has a physi cal pant adequate to make the maximum use of its resources in men skill and materials it said The action approved Tuesday at a WPB meeting attended by i MASON CITY Colder Wednesday representatives of all the armed afternoon and Wednesday night services was intended to throw into direct production of weapons all the manpower and materials which now canbe diverted safely from the building of factories and Weather Report FORECAST machinery It calls for two steps 1 Reexamination by a new WPB unit soon to be created of all previously approved projects for construction of new plants and machinery lo determine whether they cannot be eliminated by the use of existing structures and equipment 2 A ban on the purchase of new machine tools machinery or equipment unless it is conclu sively proved that the work can not be done by existing facilities The effects of the move will be farreaching WPB said new facilities now being built will be stopped some facili ties which are now in place pro ducing direct or indirect military goods will be curtailed as shifts arc made from one type of pro duction to another These shutdowns and curtail ments represent a gain to the war effort they free skilled craftsmen who are urgently needed in war loivcst temperature Thursday morning 27 with heavy frost strong winds Wednesday after noon diminishing Wednesday night warmer by Thursday noon IOWA Unseasonably cold with heavy frost and temperatures below freezing in north portion and near freezing with light frost in south portion Wednes day night MINNESOTA Unseasonably cold Wednesday night a n d Thursday forenoon with killing frost and freezing temperature north and west and heavy frost with near freezing southeast portion Wednesday night IN MASON CITY GlobeGazette weather statistics Maximum Tuesday 68 Minimum Tuesday night 37 At 8 a m Wednesday 117 Rain 10 inch YEAR AGO Maximum fiD Minimum 51 Precipitation 12 SMD1NIA MEDITERRANEAN SEA Marszra KZEKTE f r ElDjei GULF OFWWMAlJff Sousse White Mouse Press StcYelary Stephen T Early said the experts accompanied Ihe prime minister would meet with he American staff chiefs Mr Hoosevell and Churchill hold a series of intensive con ferences From lime lo lime Mi Roosc elt and Churchiil probably will micipate in the joint staff meet ngs The presence of Wavcll Somer ville and Peirse was taken as a strong indication that considerable emphasis in the talks between the Jreiificnt and the prime minister will be on the far cast and the south Pacific Mr Roosevelt has promised that heavy blows will be struck this year against the Jana icse homeland Obviously however they also will review allied strategy all over the world particularly in the light of the allied cleanup in Tu nisia Gen Joseph W Stilwcll Amer can commander in chief in China Burma and India has been iii Washington recently and is bc licsctl still in tiiis country He may join the war planning ses sions Maj GOD Claire Shcimault chief of the 1Ub U S army ail force in China nlso has been in Washington In addition top officers from the Pacific south Pacific and southwest Pacific commands visited Washington a few weeks ago lo discuss with the high command strategy in that area as planned by Churchill and Mr Kooscvtlt at Casablanca U S Ambassador William C Phillips returned from India onlv this week md conferred with the president Tuesday a few hours be fore Churchill arrived Mr Roosevelt and the prime minister conferred at great length Tuesday night after dinner and resumed their talks again Wcd rxwuniA BLAST allied troops were concluding the mopping up of last axis forces on Cap Bon in Tunisia smashing minor attempts of Germans and Kalians to escape indi cated by bombers were plastering important points in Sicily stepping stone to an invasion of the continent Wednesday night Ihe prime min ister will go to the British em bissy to have dinner with the am bassador Lord Halifax while the president is entertaining Presi dent Ediiara BCIICK of Czechoslo vakia who will arrive at the White House at p m Wednesday to be an overnight guest Mr Roosevelt and the lop lead ers of the American government will greet Benes upon arrival and later attend a stag state dinner for him at the White House Wed nesday night The master strategists of the united nations cause enthusiastic over the allied cleanup in Tunisia arc holding their fifth conference third to be conducted in the white 17 months Only the brief announcement of Churchills arrival was made Tuesday night but observers here believe that in addition to Euro pean military plans they were giving keen attention to these mat ters I Plans to recmphasiye their unconditional surrender decision reached at Casablanca last Janu i r
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